


Scatter

by Yori



Category: Brothers Conflict, Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side
Genre: A fluffy Hanahaki AU for once since I need a fluff fix that isn't too sweet, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 14:51:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15843558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yori/pseuds/Yori
Summary: Natsume realizes his love was returned.





	Scatter

**Author's Note:**

> TMGS3 is briefly mentioned here but there are no spoilers to worry about. This is due to my headcanon that Ema and Bambi (whose name is Shiori Nakajima in this oneshot) are roommates and go to university together. Bambi is dating Konno here, as tagged. A fanfic of the two is actually dedicated to my friend as her birthday gift but I may post it here someday.
> 
> Flashbacks are in italics.

When the first snow of winter fell on his windowsill, Natsume realized he could breathe.

He felt warm inside. The last petals of Camellia on his palm were starting to wilt; its blood-soaked state reminded him of hopeless medications. But with some kind of miracle, he woke up cured.

> **[ Fr: Ema Hinata [No subject]**
> 
> **Natsume-san, it's snowing. ]**

Hope bloomed in his chest. He wanted to see her.

> **[Re: [No subject]**
> 
> **Yeah. Don't catch a cold and bundle up. ]**

 

Winter break started in Meiji which meant Yusuke, Subaru and Ema might drop by the apartment around the weekend. If he wanted to monopolize her, he better make appointments fast. And since he was a damn coward, he couldn't boldly ask for her time for the sheer reason of meeting with her. He was no Kaname nor Tsubaki. In the first place, getting rejected by the same girl is a little pitiful, isn't it? A man has pride.

> **[Re:Re: Ema Hinata [No subject]**
> 
> **Can we meet at the chapel?]  
>    
>  **

A hint of tobacco and tar accumulated in his throat and made him choke. Its bitterness hinted with a bit of menthol cooled his tongue and effectively woke him up from his daydream.

"Heh. I guess she caught on pretty quickly. Let's tease her a bit."

> **[Re:Re:Re: [No subject]**
> 
> **Planning your wedding, little sis?]**

 

She did not reply. Natsume smiled a little to himself and decided to get prepared heading out for the day.

* * *

 

25 minutes. His house was 25 minutes away from her University. If in 25 minutes, she shows up on his door with a pout in her face, it's his "win". He will hold his breath again and be a good brother to her.

Years after he got rejected by her, he began to anticipate those 25 minutes. The first time he waited for her for 25 minutes, she returned the keys to his apartment. With a troubled face, she told him she loved her new family. He understood and decided to give up on her.

_  
"Just reset the save data."_

_"Eh?"_

_He patted her head and steeled his pain._

_"The princess didn't elope with the demon king. He was slain by the brave hero and peace was brought back to the kingdom."_

_As soon as Ema caught on to his lame analogy, she laughed._

_"A happy ending, huh?"_

_He nodded. The key felt cold on his palm. "And now you need to replay the game for 58 more times to make sure there aren't any bugs."_

_"Natsume-san..."_

_"K i d d i n g. Now come on, I'll take you home."_

_Her upturned eyes looked at him with guilt but he played it off stoically. "No more video games until you pass your exams, little sis."_

_The day after he sent her home, he coughed up flower petals for the first time._

_He never told her._

* * *

 

25 minutes passed and she replied. She did not come at his door, and the hope that budded on his chest bloomed only the more.

> **[ Re:Re:Re:Re: Ema Hinata [No subject]**
> 
> **I really need you to come with me. ]**

It took him all his willpower so he wouldn't smile in the subway. Snow continued to fall in Tokyo, reflected by the cheap plastic umbrella he bought at the convenience store.

25 minutes.

The 10th time she made him wait for that long, she told him she was having a difficult time in University. Instead of comforting her with words, he challenged her to a Takken* match. He never won against her.

 

_"You're getting a bit rusty, Natsume-san." She teased him, but his relenting self could only feign disappointment. He wasn't good at saying his feelings, but he was glad he was able to distract her._

_"Well...I guess I'm getting old. So, what punishment? will it be?"_

_"Hmmm..." She looked up at him and pondered about his punishment. A powder at the face is too tame, and stealing another of his scarves was too cruel._

_"Can you lean in closer, Natsume-san?"_

_"Eh?"_

_He felt flowers blooming inside him as he smelled her floral shampoo. She was too close. It's a crime!This girl has no self-awareness at all._

_Some upstanding "brother" he is._

_*flick*!_

_"Pfft- hahahahahahhaaha!"_

_The dull pain on his forehead did not register immediately in his mind. When she left that day, his doctor informed him his condition was getting worse._

* * *

 

> **[To: Ema Hinata[Subject:] Meeting**
> 
> **I'm free after lunch. That fine?]**
> 
> **\----**
> 
> **  
> [Re: Ema Hinata [Meeting]**
> 
> **Okay! Can we meet up somewhere then? ]**

 

He texted her the address of the cafe before he switched his phone into airplane mode. It was a bit saddening to spend a fraction of his Christmas in the white walls of a hospital, but he concluded it was infinitely better than getting stuck there with no certainty of getting discharged.

**Koichi Sasaki, M.D/ Department of Rare Diseases**

As he glanced at his doctor's nameplate, he wondered to which reasons why this would be the last time he would ever need his services. Ema is giving him hope, but what if it's because of what he had actually feared?

"Mr. Asahina? Dr. Sasaki will see you now."

The nurse politely called out to him from the waiting lobby. As he obediently followed her, he was greeted by the silver haired man's curt nod.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Asahina."

He sat. The doctor fixed his spectacles after he finished reading his medical records.

"The lab results came in negative. Congratulations, Mr. Asahina. You are completely cured of your Hanahaki." Dr. Sasaki gave him a few more details about his body's recovery process. Something about excreting the remains of the flowers and whatnot, but he had been finding it difficult to pay attention. _Only one thing came to his mind._

He swallowed. An hour of waiting for his lab results made him anticipate with hope. And that hope continued to only bring him good news. He felt it the end of the world.

"About that, doctor...may I ask some questions?"

"Of course. What will they be?"

He paused for a while and weighed in his words. "Is it possible to heal yourself from the disease?"

The doctor smiled, as if already knowing he would ask this question. "Hanahaki isn't new, but its cases are almost unique in every patient. Its close ties with the language of flowers proved it has some psychosomatic roots. Meaning...it is not entirely impossible to have it cured just by its two widely known treatments."

Prior to his improving condition, his doctor was insistent on giving him surgery. His Hanahaki was reaching its final stages just a few months ago. However, his situation gradually improved. He wasn't sure why himself.

"Given that doctor..."

He hesitated.

"Will accepting the futility of your feelings and converting them to a different kind of 'love' eventually cure you?"

His doctor sighed defeatedly. "If that were true, there would be no need for specialists like us, wouldn't it?"

His heart was beating rapidly. His face felt hot. It was dangerous to hope but Ema, Dr. Sasaki and everyone in the entire world seemed to give him no choice but do so.

"Asahina-san, your CT scan came negative. Your lab results came negative as well. As far as your memory and cognition goes, the psychometrician also confirmed you are at your optimal." He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he was being teased. 

Quit acting like a schoolboy, dammit.

"Sasaki-sensei..."

"Yes?"

When he was unable to reply, the doctor shook his head and chuckled.

**"Is it so impossible to believe you are being loved back?"**

* * *

 

Is it?

Dr. Sasaki's words continued playing in his head.

Without his knowing, 25 minutes passed. He missed his train.

_In the nth time he waited for her, he was jealous._

_Under the guise of driving her home as her "guardian", he went to her University to help her gather her things. The Asahina family decided to celebrate Tsubaki and Azusa getting the main leads for a popular anime, by a vacation overseas. Since the other brothers are busy, he offered to drive Ema home with her luggage._

_That was the plan...however, there were some hang-ups._

_While on his way to her apartment her flatmate, Nakajima Shiori welcomed him warmly. The woman looked a little too much like a famous Japanese supermodel(who incidentally, also had the same surname) but he felt it too imposing to ask her if they were related._

_"They're still cooking in the kitchen, but if you would join us for lunch Asahina-san, I'm sure Ema-chan would be delighted~!"_

_Her strawberry blonde hair bounced as she laughed._

_Wait.../they/?_

_Aren't there only Nakajima and Ema residing in this flat?_

_"Watch out!"_

_When he heard a male's voice and several China shattering in the kitchen, he felt his body instinctively move. The sight that beheld him made his expression darken._

_With Ema below him, a spectacled young man with dark green hair caged her in his arms. Their faces were so close that if he didn't arrive any sooner, he would have thought they were kissing._

_"Don't touch her!"_

_He pulled Ema into his arms and pushed the young man away._

_"Natsume...san?"_

_He didn't notice Shiori following him and assisting the spectacled boy. He also didn't notice his arm was bleeding by coming in contact with shattered glass._

_"Are you hurt, Ema?"_

_She glared at him._

_"I'm not, but you are. Natsume-san, what's gotten into you?"_

_Surprised by her annoyance, he only found out much later that his cognition of what happened was warped and Konno, the young man protected her from being burned by the spilled miso soup. Konno was about to get off from her despite his injuries, but /he/ made Konno feel worse because he shoved him._

_Konno was Shiori's boyfriend._

_Ema didn't talk to him for the rest of their vacation._

* * *

 

> **[From: Ema Hinata**
> 
> **Where are you, Natsume-san?]**

He was an hour late from their meeting time. Besides missing his train, there was also some technical issues that made him regret not bringing his car instead.

As he waited in vain, he remembered his Hanahaki's "third year anniversary".

_Ema confided about her feelings for Subaru. His heart ached, and Camellia petals accumulated from his throat. He swallowed them back, just like his feelings._  
  


_"When I see him try so hard, you know what? Everything I'm feeling becomes so small."_

_It made sense then. Why Subaru was the only one of their brothers who did not get a clear rejection. Why Ema went for Meiji, why she waited every morning at the convenience store. It was all because of him._

~~_But he waited longer. Unfair._ ~~

_"Are you planning to tell him?"_

_She looked up at him and shook her head._

_"It withered before it even bloomed, Natsume-san. When I began to realize I value my family above all else, I gradually saw him as nothing more than an older brother."_

_She wasn't lying now. But from the look on her face, it seems that it took her a lot of effort to come to this point._

_But since her feelings are returned..._

_"Natsume-san?"_

_He gave her a bitter smile._

_"I'm glad we're family, Ema."_

_She smiled back in reply,_

_"Me too."_

* * *

 

They didn't stay in the cafe for too long, as Ema insisted they go straight to the chapel.

"Don't worry about me, Ema. I already ate lunch while waiting for the train."

But for things to go wrong at a time like this...Natsume's heart felt sudden relief. If things went too well today, he was going to lose it. He was the type who gets more worried when things go too well rather than when it did not. Perhaps because of his long experience in the gaming industry? He was trained to adapt to the worst of situations, so when everything is going according to his ideal, he felt burdened.

"Why are you insistent to go today of all days, Ema?"

It's Christmas and by the time they'll get home, it will already be evening. Doesn't she have anyone to spend it with?

Ema did not reply, but instead walked faster to match his strides. He must be imagining things, but he noticed her ears were red.

* * *

 

By the time they arrived at the chapel, it was already late afternoon. The priest greeted them and welcomed them inside, and they both kneeled in prayer as a sign of respect.

_~~'God, please give me a sign I'm not being delusional.'~~ _

He repeated this like a mantra for several times before he was satisfied. After Ema was finished with her own prayers, she beckoned him to sit beside her at the pews.

"Do you remember, Natsume-san? This is where we first met."

Of course he could not forget. Thinking back on it, they have been under each other's care for quite a long time now, isn't it? As he began to accept the futility of his feelings, he decided to love her as her brother. His feelings for her may have not changed, but he could confidently say loving her was not fruitless.

But his troublesome Hanahaki is making him hope for miracles.

As the final petals of Camellia began to scatter in his heart, denying his days of waiting coming to an end is becoming more difficult. He couldn't help but beg her the question.

"Why did you bring me here, Ema?"

Before Ema could reply, he asked her another question.

"Why Christmas of all times? Don't you have a boyfriend? What about Subaru? What about your feelings? What about mine? What--"

He felt them scattering again. His lips felt warm. He could smell her floral shampoo so dangerously close. They stayed like that for a while before Ema worriedly pulled away when she heard Natsume coughing.

"A-are you okay, Natsume-san?"

On her lap, landed a Camellia petal. Her eyes widened in realization and she couldn't help but look at him. Natsume was blushing to the tip of his ears.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?

She shook her head, feeling her face warm up as well.

"Why did you never tell us? Me?

"I don't want you to feel bad. Hanahaki is super rare anyway, the worst that could happen is I'd die."

With his heartless remark, Ema glared at him.

She knew blaming herself would be pointless. Feeling sorry for him too late, so instead, she could only sigh and halfheartedly scold him.

"If I have known, I would have confessed to you way earlier."

"Oh?~"

"T-this is precisely why I didn't want to tell you so soon!"

"I love you too, Ema."

He lightly kissed her lips again, smiling. "What made you change your mind?"

The proper question should have been, 'what made me different from Subaru? Why did you want to acknowledge your feelings for me?'

Ema's cheeks colored pink.

"You've always been different, Natsume-san. You've always been different... from everyone else. It's just...the manner of how different you are changed the more I got closer to you."

His heart palpitated.

"You're the one who understood me the most. So much that even if you loved me, you listened to my selfish requests and pushed your feelings away. I caused you to suffer for so long, endure so long, and as I got to know you more, I think I gradually realized you are in pain in some way, and my feelings of wanting to ease that intensified."

Did she mean she had a hunch he had Hanahaki? She continued.

"You're different from everyone else, even Subaru-san...because you were willing to sacrifice your happiness even if it would cause you so much pain. And well...I think I got a bit jealous of myself without knowing..."

He chuckled.

"Ah~~ I wonder who that person Natsume-san is pining for, is it still me? Has he moved on from me?"

"I-I don't sound like that!"

"But that's what you were thinking, isn't it?"

Ema hung her head low in shame.

"Am I...worthy of your feelings? I feel like a villain."

Listening to her words made him realize he wasn't the only one in agony over the years. He rested his forehead against hers and gave her a warm smile.

"So what if you're a villain? I'm the demon king, remember?"

It took a while for Ema to understand what he was saying, but once she did, she blushed to oblivion.

"You remember..."

Who would forget? He couldn't possibly forget every precious memory he spent with her.

"Say Ema, can we retrieve that save file? I want to see that ending where the princess eloped with the demon king."

"Geez..." She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"This is the best Christmas present ever Ema, thank you."

Ema shook her head at him and replied,

"No, thank you for loving me, Natsume-san. Thank you for being my home."

> _In Hanakotoba, the Camellia flowers mean waiting and devotion. It is a love enduring even the toughest of challenges. Never withering, never wavering, it waits and remains pure._


End file.
